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fruitless raspberries

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2006

Could someone help? 4 years of growth on my raspberries and only one fruit. The one i got had only one tiny "lobe" instead of the multiple lobes that make up a berry. WHATS GOING ON. Could the birds be stripping them all?

by weezie13 on July 07, 2006 01:08 PM

Can you tell us a bit more about the growing conditions???

Are they in full sun?

Kind of soil, regular garden soil/dirtor a bagged dirt?

Are they in the ground or a container??

Do you fertilize, if so, what kind?Also the numbers on it like 10~60~10???Or any organic fert's???

How did you plant them?Deep, or lay them on the side, or train them with a pole/post w/wire????Or natural??

(and a biggg Welcome to The Garden Helper's Forum by the way, we're veryyyyy glad you found us...)

* * * *Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it. - Bible - Hebrews 13:2

quote:Originally posted by thegreat:Could the birds be stripping them all?

Absolutely!

In addition to the info weezie requested, have you pruned the plants at all? Pruning raspberry canes is an important process in growing them.

* * * *John - Zone 6

by thegreat on July 08, 2006 12:27 PM

Yesterday I asked for help with my fruitless raspberries. Thanks to those who responded. Further info: I planted them in full sun, near the house in my garden about 4 years ago. The garden soil generally has a lot of clay but I add last years grass clipping compost every spring when I turn the garden over. I generally add the contents of my sons sand-box (1/2 wheelbarrow full) at the end of each summer. the sand has helped to break up the soil. The first year I expected no fruit and got none, but i saw pretty good growth. In fall when cleaning the garden, I Pruned &/or had many canes break the first year. I was hopefull the 2nd year and did indeed see good growth of the canes, I watched the flowers form on the mature parts, but fruit never appeared. I worried that my previous pruining had caused the "trauma". That fall I left the plants alone.

this year I've gleaned a lot of new growth. I pulled out those that had strayed too far, and pulled out weeds whenever i could. Id say the patch measures 6' square, with stalks about 4 to 4 1/2' tall with about 30% old canes to new growth. In spring, then about a month later i sprinkled "preen & green 9-17-9 around garden. this year at planting i bought 5 bales of Sphagnum peat moss and worked it in whole garden(save for the raspberries). I sprinkled several hand fulls of the moss into the berry bush to act as mulch. Since I was laid off late May, I watered well when rain was scarce. Now I'm back to work I water less frequently but I try to get back there on weekends. As I said this years growth is good, flowers abound, but most won't seem to berry-up! The few signs of red at the flowers I've seen have been only one or two small round "lobes". (I don't know the term but a normal berry has multiple lobes tightly packed , Mine have one "lobe"on the few flowers that have any.

Last year was worried that perhaps the flowers weeren't being pollinated but I have seen a lot of bee activity,I really don't know!!!